On Holiday, but still creating!

Dear Scribblers

September is turning out to be busier than I thought.

Actually, I'm on holiday at the moment on the spectacular Mediterranean island of Malta, but there's no rest for the writer/crafter. Using my favourite Smythson notebooks to write and jot down ideas for the two wonderful courses I'm doing on my return.

Yes, I did say two. Once again I'm doing Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday scrapbooking/journalling corse, along with the brand new UnEarth Your Creative Nature by Jani Franck. Both began on 1 September and last the month, and I feel they both give a creative boost whilst complimenting each other. Even though I haven't been able to start in earnest, I have been making notes and taking photos. I'll tell you more about how I'm coming along with full links both courses when I can. (I'm writing this using Blogger on my iPad and can't dd links.)

I'll be back in a few days with more info, plus the start of my 'Scrapbooking Your Holidays' series.

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 13 - Holiday! Celebrate!... Plus a hint to the next set of projects

Dear Scribblers

Are you thinking about holidays? I was when I completed this layout for last year's LSNED with Shimelle Laine.

The title reads, "I'd love to go on holiday but remember... I'm so glad I've had these holidays."

I was feeling down in the dumps that I wasn't high in the clouds flying off to some exotic location for a week or two of sun, sea and... the rest and relaxation! So I wanted to create a page celebrating the times I have enjoyed on foreign shores.

It began with the yellow tag, which is a real airlines cabin crew baggage tag. From there I covered the layout with a K&Company 12x12 atlas paper from an old line, and added various travel themed items I had in stock, including: Creative Imaginations - Marah Johnson epoxy stickers, Hot Off The Press Attachments collection - Travel range - ribbons, frames, vinyl tags, and K&Company's Sea Glass range - letter stickers, chipboard, and 6x4 card stock. Along with various holiday ephemera I still had in my stash. I quite like the haphazard 'thrown on' look to the page.

Pleased to say we are flying off again this year, and I'm looking forward plunging in on new pages of memories once I'm home.

Important Note: I'm going to be showing you some of my older holiday projects that I've completed over the years in a brand new series coming next on The Crafty Scribe. Please keep checking back for more information, and the last few pages left in LSNED.

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 7 - Don't be 'A' Negative... Be Positive!

Dear Scribblers

I don't know whether you've noticed that my pages and my outlook couldn't be described as girlie! If anything, I would say I'm more down with a sci-fi-goth-chic-geek-rock-chick vibe, although I don't know how others would describe me!

Like I said, I'm not into girlie, especially pink, so you can imagine what a surprise I had when I'd finished this LSNED page! I didn't even know I had this much pink in my card stock.

I started with a purple/blue watercolour base for the page, and layered on the artist trading card sized printed papers (from the Artist Trading Collection by The Crafthouse Press who also made the ones on the Oscar Pistorius page.) 

The title, Don't Focus on The Negative - Be Positive, was created on the computer, as was some of the other words. The rest came from many companies including: K and Company, Bo Bunny and Cosmo Cricket, which reads, " Remember to love, delight, explore, wonder, let your imagination run wild, laugh, believe, smile, hope, play, have fun, be genuine and kind each day."

The birds came from a free collection from a magazine, and I made my own version of the girl I'd seen as a template in a magazine. I think it may have been from 'You Can Craft'. If anyone recognises the artist or knows in which magazine it was featured, please let me know as I would love to credit them for their design.

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 6 - Friendship Bracelets... To show or not to show bad layouts

Dear Scribblers

I wanted to share this LSNED page with you, because I'm not happy with it. Sometimes it's worth showing the mistakes as well as the favourites.

The story of the page is to explain how I learnt to make macrame and friendship bracelets by watching You Tube clips (which can be found here).

I used ribbons to give the impression of bracelets laid out, added two photos, a piece of a test bracelet I made and printed out the title and sub-title.

If I was to do it again now, I know I would have painted the plain book pages to help them blend, reduced the amount of ribbon, and put the words on one page and the photos on the other. I think I would have also handwritten the titles instead of printing. Actually, I might have covered the photo page with ribbon, and used a thin strip only on the title page.  Something like this:

What do you think?

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 5 - The Wonders of the Universe... Sorry, without Dr Brian Cox!

Dear Scribblers

A dark LSNED page for you today, but with a positive meaning.

I painted the whole of the background with black acrylic, and then using an air gun, blew paint onto the pages in a variety of colours. You could get the same effect using a straw. Just don't suck the paint back up the straw too far! I'm sure a mouthful of paint isn't very tasty at all. Yuck!

I sprinkled glitter into a few places which stuck where the paint was still wet. The white paint burst behind the photo was actually cut from a shopping mall's brochure, which I added a layer of pale glitter to. The photo came from NASA's website, I think, or from one of the mainly space photos sites on the internet. I then used a white gel pen to write and to doodle with. The main title is stencilled from a standard school-type alphabet plastic stencil.

It reads. "Our daily problems are insignificant in relation to the wonders of the universe. Our lives are a blip in the cosmos, don't fret the small stuff! Celebrate being alive!"

There's further writing around the white paint bursts which reads, "As Humans, we spend so much time worrying, complaining and stressing our our day to day lives, making dramas over the tiniest thing which seems so big, so right out enormous at that moment in time, but look at it in comparison to where we live. I don't mean your house, street, town, country or even the whole world. I'm talking about being a child of the universe. The fact we are even alive, and know this, is a MIRACLE! It's amazing to be part of the energy of the UNIVERSE. This vast wonderful system, full of beauty and things known and unknown. Part of everything forever. Now don't those issues seem small? Enjoy today. Marvel in life."

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 4 - Olympics & Oscar Pistorius

Dear Scribblers

With the Olympics and Paralympics coming up on us as fast as Oscar Pistorius, I thought I would share a LSNED page that is based on a quote from that fabulous South African sportsman who is also known by the awesome name of 'The Blade Runner!'

His quote is: "A loser isn't the one who comes last in the race. The loser is the one who sits in the stands and watches."

This isn't just a quote for sports and games. It's to remind you to get involved in life, remember to participate in each day, don't just sit on the sidelines and watch your time go by.

I painted the page in a pale green, then added the Olympic rings, although most of this became covered up. I used artist trading card sized papers with game-type images on them and splattered the whole lot with more paint, before adding the mat and layered sheets. I'd printed out the words on the printed paper using the computer, picking a sporty 'American Football' style font. The day, number and trophy clipboard tags were added along with a lot of glitter.

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 3 - Footprints... Sole to Soul

Dear Scribblers

Here's the next page, I'd like to share, from LSNED - Sept 2011

I hope you can read the writing. It's all about the words for this page... and of course, the feet! My hubby and I had fun doing this one, painting each other's feet with red and purple acrylic paint and stamping down directly onto the book. Although it was less fun (actually, maybe even more fun) trying to get the smaller prints from the cats!

Lots of time spent, trying to keep them still enough to ink a paw and then not having them walk the ink over the house! In the end, we nabbed them in the garden, and used some plain white A4 sheets for them to walk over. It sort of worked. I then cut out the best prints of the lot and layered them onto red thin corrugated card, and did the same with the red heart print paper, cutting out both hearts by hand.

There's an extra little note at the bottom which reads, "I also learnt that trying to make kitty prints is... well, like herding cats. Impossible!"

You'll be pleased to learn that the cats received fresh prawns for tea that day as payment for their help!

I also wanted to make sure the end of the title finished at the bottom of my foot. Soul on the sole, you see. Get it? I like to play with words, me!

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 2 - Life is a Roller-coaster!

Dear Scribblers

Here's the second page I'd like to share with you from Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday course in September 2011. I hope you'll understand if I write it as LSNED from now on.

This is the double layout for each day that I explained in yesterday's post. I was a little nervous about tackling what was 18x11 inches of blank space each day, but going about it as an art journal, instead of what would be almost a standard 12x12 scrapbook page with another half (6inch width) tacked onto the side, I found it easier to think about. If you get my meaning. That would be an enormous amount of space for me to scrapbook with layer papers, but with paints and art journal freedom... not so much. It seemed to be the right amount.

The extra length meant I could tackle ideas like this one! My life as a rollercoaster. The journalling reads, "I learnt that when you deal with pain on a daily basis, Life truly is a rollercoaster! The best way to cope is to relax, take the dips as you take the highs and remember... always remember to ENJOY THE RIDE!"

I used watercolour paints again, with Whispers Strokes watercolour and permanent double-ended pens (used a lot on the whole LSNED project), Cosmos Cricket letter stickers, and the rollercoaster framework is thin black ribbon.

Happy Scribing!

Lessons Learnt - 1 - Off We Go with Shimelle's LSNED... 2011?!?

Lessons Learnt in September 2011

Dear Scribblers

What one thing an elephant and The Crafty Scribe do not have in common?

I forgot!

(I won't tell you what I do have in common with an elephant. It could be a long post! By the way, how do you know if there's an elephant in your fridge?...................................... Footprints in the butter!)

Back to the post at hand, or at keypad, or touch pad, or mouse. Mouse? Ekkkk! We are back to that elephant in the room again.

Now I've that silliness out of the way.

Way back in September, I completed Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday course for the third time, and it was just as enjoyable as the first... and the second.

I realised that I hadn't posted any of the photos of my pages for you on the blog. I forgot! I'm sorry. But never fear, I delved into my external hard-drive to recover a selection of my favourites for you to see. I'll be posting them over the next few days.

Here is the first:

As you'll notice, I went for something completely different last year... art journalling. It was the first time, I attempted anything like this so was a little tentative to begin with. This was my internal title page, using watercolour paints, stamps and letter stickers.

My forgetfulness shows itself once again as I can't remember names of products used. The majority of it was quite old stash. I'll list those that I remember as we move through the days.

The plain pale cream paged ring-bound book was approx 9 x 11 inches (23x28cm). Only the inside title and end pages are single sheets. Each day covered two facing pages, as you will see. The cover was plain cardboard which I also decorated.

I hope you stay with me as I show you around the favourites of my messy arty painty and scrapbooky pages from September 2011. Better late than never, right? I hope!

Happy Scribing!

P.S. Why did the elephant paint the bottom of his feet pale yellow?........................................................ So he could hide upside down in the butter in the fridge, of course! 

Ten days into LSNED

Dear Scribblers

Where does the time go?

I'm loving receiving the daily prompts from Shimelle's course Learn Something New Everyday, but I'm playing catch-up at the moment due to being away from the computer and my crafting goodies for over a week.

I'm now raring to go, and beginning to pile my way through the daily pages. I'll be posting some of my efforts each day over the rest of the month. Please look out for all the postings with LSNED in the title.

I thought I would begin by showing you my very first ever digital page! I'm using Photoshop Elements, and the papers etc are from Shimelle, and also The Queen of Quirk Give Freely Vintage Stars and Stripes kit.

We are working on a 4x6in size which can be printed out at home or sent to a photo printers.

If you read my previous blog about the course, you'll know I'm also doing ATC sized paper pages too. I'll be posting some of the paper and some of the digital papers so you can see the difference even though I will be using the same photo and title on both. I hope you will join me on the rest of the journey throughout this month.

Happy Scribing!

The Craft Scribe Communiqué - LSNED begins!

News Flash - Communiqué 

Dear Scribblers


Today is the first day of Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday in September mini-scrapbooking course. Go take a look, it's not too late to join in.

I thought you would like to see my title page and the blank daily cards ready for scrapping. They are ATC-sized, and the holes were produced by the Bind It All machine. The metal CD represents a film cannister. The black side is for the photos, and the white side is for journalling.

I'm going to keep it simple, as I'll also be creating a digital version following Shimelle's own digital downloads. I'm using it as an opportunity to teach myself digital Photoshop scrapbooking.

I'll be posting my on-going pages, please keep a look at for the posts with LSNED in the title.

Happy Scribing!

Communiqué Ends

The Crafty Scribe Communiqué - What I'm Up To In September!

Communiqué - News Flash

Dear Scribblers

For the whole month of September, I'll be joining in with Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day mini-book scrapbooking course.

Shimelle's September Course

I completed this project last year, and I highly recommend it. It's the reason I started this blog!

I'll be posting my finished pages on here as I go along throughout the month. I'm considering digital crafting this year. If I do, it will be my first ever computer based scrapbook. Why don't you join me? Follow my trials, triumphs and tribulations as I attempt to get to grips with Photoshop and layers!

If I feel energetic, I may even complete physical pages too. I'm thinking of using artist trading card size, with the photo on one side and the journalling on the other. They are an easy-to-handle-and-finish size. I can't admit to coming up with this idea - I saw the fantastic project on Kool Kitty Musings and was inspired by it. My aim is to then string them together like bunting and hang it around my study with the photos showing.

Still thinking, do you think I'm biting off more than I  can chew?

If you want to find out more, please click here for Shimelle's course and check out her blog too.

Happy Scribing!


Communiqué Ends...

Getting Graphic! - Make Your Own Comic Book

Part Two - Harnessing Your Alternative Computer Programmes for use in Journalling and Scrapbooking.

Dear Scribblers,

Once upon a time, a variety of Apple Macs came bundled with a fantastic programme from Freeverse called Comic Life.

Those times are gone, and if you want a copy of Comic Life you need to buy it. But the good news is, it’s now available from Plasq in a brand new deluxe version for both Windows and Mac. Result!

So, why am I so excited about this programme? Comic Life can add an extra fun dimension to your scrapbook pages.

For example: Have you been to a theme park over the summer? Have you been on holiday? Have you been to a birthday party? Did you take tons of photos, but want to use a number of them on one layout. Import them into Comic Life, add your titles, caption boxes and speech balloons.

Voila! You’ve turned a set of individual photos into a cohesive fun story - an imaginative way of adding journalling to your pages. Once you’ve created your comic, print it out and add it to your scrapbooking layout, or paste it into your journal.

There is also a feature within Comic Life which allows you to email your finished graphic novel directly to your friends, or upload it to your website.

The programme itself is easy to use, with great help support:

Copy of Mac version - from Freeverse  

Here’s a quick comic page I made for my recent project for Shimelle’s “Learn Something New Every Day” on-line course.

After finishing the comic page, I created an additional page for making the title and further journalling, printed them out and added it to my normal scrapbooking layout.

As well as Comic Life, there are a number of other comic creation programmes out there, such as; Comic Book Creator by Planetwide Games. Hit your browser, and take a look. Or you could even just try using your regular word processing or photo editing software. Get creative, and have a go!

Project of the Day - Have go at creating your own comic strip/page/book. Then add it to your layout, art diary or journal. Try something new today!

Happy Scribing!

Next in the series - Using Your Regular Word Processing Software in New Ways.

Crafty Scribe Communiqué 2 - The Finished Book "Learn Something New Every Day!"

Communiqué - News Flash - Communiqué

For those of you who have followed the previous posts; you'll know, that for the month of September, I signed onto Shimelle Laine's course, "Learn Something New Every Day."  I am happy to report, I have completed the project, and would like to share a few pages with you.

Title Page

Title printed on the bottom of the picture.

Hidden journalling on a pull-out card, the top of the card sticks out with the chip-out TODAY, and pre-printed saying.

Fairy Cake Friday!

Some hand written journalling and alphabet stickers.

(See the real cup cake case?)

I felt that the title, plus added support of the pre-printed saying, was enough without additional journalling.

An iWorks Pages project. I added the photo 3 times side-by-side underneath and reduced the opacity, before layering the focus photo on top. Then added the journalling over the faded photos. After printing, I rounded the corners to match the papers. A tip from Shimelle was to use the cut-off left over pieces of paper to recreate the page. I did this, layering the pieces onto each other, and inked the edges.

And here's the finished book! All 30 days competed.

The project was made using mainly Cosmo Cricket products.

I hope you like seeing some of the journey I took. I would definitely recommend Shimelle's courses to all you scrappers out there.

Happy Scribing!

End of Communiqué - End of Communiqué - End of Communiqué 

Regular Blogs Resume Soon!

Quick Tip Using Strips, Clips, Chips, Snippets and Stamps!

Hi Scribblers!

Do you not like using your own handwriting on your layouts?

Here's one page that uses 4 different ideas to add journalling quickly and easily:

1. Snippets!  Add a pre-printed saying. I've used 'Sugar & Spice and Completely Nice' as I felt the colours and phrase blended well to the tone.

2. Stripts!  Write your journalling in a word processor programme; such as Microsoft Word, Open Office, Apple iWorks Pages. Format your fonts to your liking, then print it out on the paper of your choice. I, then, cut my sentence into strips to make it fit and to add movement.

3. Clips and Chips!  Use pre-formed pre-printed alphabets to make up your words as with the 'pay-off' dominate word - BLISS! (Likewise, I also used a chipboard number for the date.)

4. Stamps! Use alphabet stamps to create your words - I used a tiny studio G set inked with Whispers watercolour pens for the 'SUN' day of the week.

The page is mainly created using Cosmo Cricket products (plus ice cream sticker from K&Co, silk flowers from an old fake Hawaiian lei) as part of my project for Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day course.

Simple!

Happy Scribing!

p.s. The series "Harnessing your Computer Programmes for your Journalling and Scrapbooking' begins next blog!

Adding Quotes to your page

Do you ever use quotes on your layouts? They can add extra gravitas to your own feelings.

I like to use Thinkexist.com to find quotes, and provide information. There is a great search facility. Just type in a word (e.g. boat - writing - bumble bees), whatever you need, and hit search. Before you know it, there's a host of quotes on screen. You can also search authors, keywords, topics and more. I'm sure you will find something to suit your page and your mood.

For my page for yesterday as part of Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day course, I added a quote to support my own journalling, as I felt it summed up how I felt.

"Creativity is a Natural Extension of our Enthusiasm" - Earl Nightingale

Note: Whenever you use a quote, please remember to add the author's name, so you know who the saying is attributed to, and also it's only polite to credit them.

Try adding a quote to your next layout, and see if it inspires you. Or choose a quote at random, and see if you can make a page out of it.

Shimelle's 'Learn Something New Every Day'

I enrolled on the fabulous crafting supremo, Shimelle's 'Learn Something New Every Day'. So since 1 September, I have been creating a 8x6 page a-day, which will end up as a mini-album by the end of the month.

If you would like to find out more about Shimelle and her courses - click here!

For yesterday's page, we thought about regrets, and here's mine!

As I wanted to add a lot of writing to the page, I kept the photo simple - manipulating one I'd recently taken of the full moon. I think it evoked my mood as I wrote.

The journalling reads, "At 16 years old, I told my friends that I would live without regards. I even created a mantra to strengthen my convictions! But what do we actually know as teenagers?

At 40, I know there is nothing I have done which I regret, but there are things I regret not doing. So maybe my 16 year old self did know something!

I learned that it's truly time to: Live Life to the Full and Enjoy!"

So what did your 16 year old self tell you? Do you still believe the same now?